1. Field of the Ivention
The present invention generally relates to vehicular information systems and, in particular, to a system and method for changing an order that a vehicle is to arrive at destinations in response to requests by users for pick-up or delivery of an item or for some other reason, so that the vehicle arrives at the destinations at more opportune times for the users.
2. Related Art
Delivery vehicles often travel predetermined routes in making deliveries and/or pick-ups. For example, a passenger bus is often scheduled to arrive at certain bus stops at predefined times. Passengers who desire to ride the bus meet the bus at one of the stops, when the bus is scheduled to arrive at the stop. If a passenger is unable to meet the bus at the scheduled time, the passenger misses the bus. Therefore, many passengers inconveniently rearrange their schedule so that they can meet the bus at one of the stops.
In another example, package delivery vehicles often carry packages to certain destinations. The route of a package delivery vehicle is often determined based on the packages that are to be delivered by the vehicle while traveling the route. In this regard, each of the packages is scheduled to arrive at a particular destination, and the order that packages are delivered is usually selected to minimize the amount of time and/or distance required for the vehicle to travel its route. However, the selected order is not necessarily convenient for each recipient that is to receive delivery of at least one of the packages. For example, due to the order of delivery selected, the vehicle may be scheduled to deliver one of the packages between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. The recipient of this package may not be available to receive delivery during this time period. Therefore, the package is usually either left unattended at the place of delivery or is not delivered. When the package is not delivered, a later delivery attempt (often the next day) is attempted.
It would be desirable for a delivery system to allow the route of the delivery vehicle (including the order that the vehicle arrives at particular destinations) to be selected such that the routes are convenient to the users that are to meet the vehicle for delivery and/or pick-up. However, most delivery systems are associated with a very large number of vehicles and/or users, and the administrative burden of accommodating individual user preferences is costly. Therefore, most delivery systems select delivery vehicle routes without accommodating individual user preferences.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry for providing a system and method capable of efficiently accommodating user preferences in selecting the routes for delivery vehicles.
The present invention overcomes the inadequacies and deficiencies of the prior art as discussed hereinbefore. Generally, the present invention provides a vehicular route optimization system and method for changing an order that a vehicle is to arrive at destinations based on requests by users so that the vehicle arrives at the destinations at more opportune times for the users.
In architecture, the vehicular route optimization system of the present invention utilizes memory, a first communications device, and a data manager. The memory stores data indicating an order that a mobile vehicle is expected to arrive at a plurality of destinations. The first communications device receives a request transmitted from a remote communications device, and the data manager, in response to the request, defines a new order that the mobile vehicle is expected to arrive at the plurality of destinations. The data manager also identifies one of the destinations and a particular time period based on the request and determines whether the vehicle is expected to arrive at the one destination during the particular time period, if the vehicle travels a route based on the new order. If the vehicle is expected to arrive at the one destination during the particular time period when the vehicle travels the route based on the new order, the data manager updates the data such that the data indicates the new order. The updated data can then be displayed to a driver of the vehicle, who follows the route based on the new order. Therefore, the vehicle should arrive at the one destination during the particular time period.
The present invention can also be viewed as providing a vehicular route optimization method. This method can be broadly conceptualized by the following steps: storing data, the data defining an order that a mobile vehicle is expected to arrive at a plurality of destinations; receiving a request for the vehicle to arrive at one of the destinations during a particular time period; analyzing the data in response to the request; determining whether to accept the request based on the analyzing step; modifying the order in response to a determination in the determining step to accept the request; rendering the data; and indicating the modified order via the rendering step.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to one skilled in the art upon examination of the following detailed description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is intended that all such features and advantages be included herein within the scope of the present invention and protected by the claims.